Young drivers save with telematics car insurance

T he cost of car insurance can make a big dent in a motorist's budget.  Young drivers pay a particularly high price for car insurance because they are more likely to be involved in an accident and so more likely to claim on their insurance policy. 

Premiums for young motorists can soar into the thousands, often making it unaffordable to run a car.  One way potential way of getting around this is telematics car insurance.

Telematics insurance, sometimes known as black box insurance, personalises your insurance based on when and how you drive which then determines the cost of car insurance..

Telematics car insurance is growing more popular by the month.  More drivers are becoming aware of the potential benefits of the GPS enabled cover. 

However, many drivers are still unaware of the advantages which could be realized simply by driving a car correctly.  First-time car insurance customers can save an average of £821* with black box based policies. 

* Based on Gocompare.com research

The number of driver's now utilizing telematics car insurance has gone up significantly in the last couple years, but many drivers are still locked into a traditional type policy.

Drivers who are skeptical of telematics car insurance may not understand the small mounted device which is placed in the insured car.  The device in fact is quite small and unobtrusive.  It is about the size of a mobile phone and can take less than an hour to install the device.

Once the device is mounted in the car, the insurance cover becomes active.  Once active, the small device serves as a monitor of driving habits of whoever is behind the wheel.  Habits like speeding, cornering and braking are tracked.  The time of day or night the car is driven is also noted by the device.

The insurer collects the data from the device and analyses it for evidence of safety.  When safe driving is apparent rewards are passed on to the driver in the form of discounts applied to future monthly car insurance premium costs.

Some experts believe that telematics insurance will soon become the norm especially as the benefits of telematics insurance becomes more widely known amongst young drivers in particular. 

Not surprisingly, more insurers are coming out with telematics car insurance but there are disadvantages that you'll need to be aware of, such as;

Some providers may specify on your policy that you don't drive between certain hours when serious accidents are most likely to happen (usually late night or early morning).

Privacy is another issue.  You should always read carefully the firm's commitment to the use of personal data. 

Check also if the telematics insurance company charges for the black box and its installation and what happens if you choose to cancel the policy.